Sales Team Coaching: Ten reasons your company can benefit
The first thing that most managers note is that their sales team already has a management structure and does not need external coaching or mentoring.
There are several benefits for enterprises in having a coaching or mentoring program separate from their sales management process. These benefits include the following:
Objectivity and fresh perspective: A sales coach or mentor from outside your organization can provide an unbiased view of your performance and potential. They're not influenced by company politics or day-to-day operations, allowing them to offer fresh insights and strategies.
Focused on your team’s growth: While a sales manager is primarily concerned with meeting team quotas and organizational goals, a coach or mentor is dedicated to individual growth.
Broader experience: An experienced sales coach has worked across multiple industries and organizations. This diverse background allows us to share a wider range of strategies and best practices compared to a typical sales manager who may have experience limited to one or two companies. Often a sales manager is promoted into a manager role, not because they are good managers but because they are good salespeople and are promoted into management.
Confidentiality: Salespeople may feel more comfortable discussing challenges, weaknesses, or career aspirations with an external mentor than with their direct supervisor.
Specialized expertise: Coaches and mentors often specialize in specific areas like leadership development, advanced negotiation techniques, or industry-specific strategies, offering deeper insights than a general sales manager might provide.
Customized learning: Coaching and mentoring services can be tailored to your specific needs and learning style, whereas a sales manager typically has to use a one-size-fits-all approach for the entire team.
Ongoing support: Unlike a sales manager who may change roles or leave the company, a coach or mentor can provide consistent, long-term support throughout your career progression.
Time devoted to Coaching: In many enterprises sales managers and company leaders just don’t have the time to dedicate to sales coaching and mentoring. They are busy putting together pipeline reports and forecasts, fighting fires, managing upward, or managing large sales teams.
Helping young managers succeed: Often young managers are promoted because they are very strong salespeople, however, when they are promoted into a manager role, they are not given the tools, training, or experiences to succeed as a manager. Having a mentor or coach, separate from their supervisors, enables frank, honest, and constructive discussion.
Overcoming the lack of sales management experience within an organization: In many organizations, senior executives just don’t have sales or sales management experience. Many came up through other disciplines and either regard salespeople to be similar to every other employee or chose to stay away from the sales team altogether.
